A Laois man who broke a woman’s jaw by punching her in the face after a row on New Year’s Eve two years ago has been jailed for 33 months.
William Donoghue (26) of The Crescent, Ballylinan, Laois, was convicted following a trial at Carlow Circuit Criminal Court last November.
He had pleaded not (NOT) guilty to assaulting the woman causing her harm on January 1, 2023. His previous convictions are all for minor offences.
Detective Garda Aidan Kelly told Stephen Montgomery BL prosecuting that Donoghue had a row with the woman earlier in the night while they were outside The Foundry Nightclub in Carlow Town.
The groups dispersed and Donoghue was later walking in the Graiguecullen area of the town when a passing car pulled in and the woman got out.
The row started up again and the woman slapped Donoghue in the face before he struck her with a closed fist to the face.
Det Gda Kelly said the woman’s jaw was broken and she later required surgery.
She reported the assault to gardaí after she identified Donoghue as the suspect through social media.
He was arrested the following August and claimed during the subsequent garda interview that he had been attacked earlier that night, that she caught up with him later and slapped him in the face.
The court heard that there was no CCTV footage in the area.
A victim impact statement from the woman, read into the record, said her jaw was wired shut for a month and she is still unable to eat or chew on the left hand side of her mouth. She said her teeth have still not properly realigned.
She was unable to attend college or work for some time and still does not feel safe walking anywhere on her own.
“It is not something you expect to happen when you are out for New Years Eve. It still has a massive impact on my life but it does not seem to have impacted him,” she said before adding that she never got an apology from Donoghue.
“I hope to never experience anything like this again,” the statement concluded.
Det Gda Kelly agreed with Tom Kelly BL defending that Donoghue claimed that the woman struck him in the face with a high heel.
He also said he had hit her with an open hand.
It was accepted that he has no previous convictions for assault and he was intoxicated on the night.
Mr Kelly acknowledged that there was “a mixed” probation report before the court and accepted that his client does not benefit from a guilty plea.
He asked the court to accept that he placed himself at the scene of the assault, when there was no CCTV footage in the case.
Judge Eugene O’Kelly said the assault was aggravated by the fact that Donoghue is a strong muscular man and the victim is a woman “who is certainly not of his stature”.
He said Donoghue does not benefit from mitigation of a guilty plea and that he had contested the case and put forward a version of events that was not accepted by the jury.
Judge O’Kelly accepted that Donoghue was intoxicated on the night and has taken some responsibility but added that he still “does blame the victim for a disproportionate use of force during the argument”.
He imposed a sentence of three and a half years before he suspended the final nine months of the term having taken into account that he has good family support and The Probation Service have indicated they are happy to work with him.